


Eowyn's Motivation

by SarcasticFawn



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-15 05:09:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16927098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarcasticFawn/pseuds/SarcasticFawn
Summary: An intellectual look at the differences between the film and book portrayal of the badass herself, Eowyn





	Eowyn's Motivation

Often when a book is turned into a movie, characters are diluted down to make room for attention grabbing action scenes; The Lord of the Rings is no different. In the movies Eowyn is portrayed as a woman who wants to fight in battle simply for glory, and later is turned into a love interest with minimal plot support. In general, her character is simplified for viewers ease. While, this depiction of Eowyn isn’t completely horrible, it leaves book lovers bereft of a dynamic female character. The books flesh Eowyn out into a well-rounded character that isn’t fighting just for glory, but for respect and understanding. Her love interest isn’t thrown in for appeal it’s a well thought out match that adds to her story as a whole. One of the most noticeable differences is Eowyn’s motivations for joining the war against the evil forces of Sauron. Film Eowyn’s driving motivation is to oppose the gender standards put upon her, whereas Book Eowyn is driven by her want for respect as a worthy warrior.  
The most striking difference between the book and the film is where the bulk of her pivotal scenes occur. In the book, Eowyn mainly appears in The Return of the King, with minimal action taking place in Two Towers. However, in the film, Eowyn speaks more in Two Towers and has some action scenes in Return of the King. The shift in the timing of her appearances do not add or detract from her essence as a character, but it was an interesting move by Peter Jackson. I assume that this change, occurred mostly to make room for complex battle scenes and to cut the runtime of Return of the King, which was already the longest of the three films.  
One of her most essential scenes translocated was one between her and Aragorn. In the book it takes place right before Aragorn goes through the Paths of the Dead to summon the Dead to fight against Sauron. In the movie this scene takes place in Two Towers when Aragorn and Eowyn meet for the first time. Surprisingly, much of the dialogue is the same in the film as in the book. In the book, Eowyn confronts Aragorn before he goes to the Paths of the Dead and insists: “if you must go then let me ride in your following. For I am weary of sulking in the hills and wish to face peril and battle” (Tolkien, 976). To this Aragorn replies “your duty is with your people” (Tolkien, 976). Aragorn goes on to say how it is almost a privilege to be put in charge of the people of Rohan and to avoid the danger of battle. Aragorn cannot understand her plight. Eowyn has been trapped in the house serving her sickly uncle and avoiding Wormtongue who sees her as a prize to be won. Eowyn replies to him saying “all your words are to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house” (Tolkien, 976), in saying this she brings to light Aragorn’s misogynistic stereotypes of women’s roles. It is proven that Eowyn has just as much training and pride as the men of Rohan when she says: “I am of the House Eorl, not a serving woman. I can ride and wield a blade, I fear neither death nor pain” (Tolkien, 976). There is nothing stopping her from joining Aragorn, she has just as much skill as Gimli or Legolas who are going to the Paths of the Dead. Eowyn’s motivation for wanting to go into battle is not just her will to prove men wrong, its that her noble birth and training are being ignored. She is not given the respect of a trained warrior because she is a woman.  
The next bit of dialogue is featured verbatim in both the movie and book when Aragorn asks what she fears, “A cage; to stay behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of doing great things is gone beyond recall or desire.” (Tolkien, 977). In the book, she says this bitterly; she fears a cage because it means that she will always be trapped by her gender and she will never get the respect owed to her as a noble or Shieldmaiden. This differs greatly in the movie as she says the line with a sense of awe and yearning. Eowyn speaks about wanting to go off and fight, but she never actually mentions protecting her people but dreams about wanting to ‘face peril and battle’, and to do ‘great deeds’. She has a driving motivation within her to do glorious deeds simply for the sake of valor and renown. Book Eowyn could not care less about the glory but wants the respect she deserves whereas Film Eowyn wants to fight to achieve glory and to be useful.  
Eowyn’s other defining moment that varies only slightly is her confrontation with the Witch King of Angmar on the battlefield in Minas Tirth and this scene takes place in Return of the King in both the book and the movie. In the book Eowyn’s dialogue is much longer than the well-known phrase “I am no man” (Jackson, Return of the King). In the book, when the Witch King threatens her, she replies laughing “no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Eowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” (Tolkien, 1047) She claims her heritage as a daughter of Kings and as a Shieldmaiden of Rohan. After she does this amazing act of defeating a Ringwraith, no one can deny her the respect she deserves as a warrior as no other character in the book even comes close to killing a wraith. And what’s more, Eowyn doesn’t see her defense of a dying Théoden as a grab for glory, she views it as her duty to ‘her lord and kin’. After killing the Witch King, she passes out from exhaustion and pain and Eomer fraught with grief, inspires his men that victory must be won for both her and Théoden.  
In the film the scene after Eowyn’s victory is dragged out. She is badly hurt, but conscious and calls out for help from Merry. She is then pursued by Gothmog, an orc, as she crawls pathetically trying to reach a sword, and then at the last moment she is rescued by Aragorn without him knowing it was her. There was no reason for this to be in the movie as it adds nothing to the characterization of either Eowyn or Aragorn and it only detracts from the astounding accomplishment of Eowyn. It shrinks her back down to a damsel in distress, who calls on an untrained Hobbit for help. This is the scene that many people use to defend Eowyn as a strong female in the movies, but her simplified lines and damsel-fication defeat her purpose as a woman role model. This is strikingly different to the books where Eowyn claims her heritage and is a true heroine.  
In the films Eowyn only makes a few more appearances with most of the scenes being in the Healing House after the battle of Minas Tirth. It is here that she meets Faramir, son of the Steward of Gondor and now Captain of the Guard and falls in love with him. Their romance feels rushed and underdeveloped. They meet, hold hands and fall in love, all in one scene, and later they are seen at Aragorn’s coronation, where it is assumed, they are married. This acceleration of their romance does not detract from the fact that Faramir still helps her feel the light in the world: “I do not believe this darkness will endure” (Jackson, Return of the King). The book devotes a whole chapter to the interactions between Eowyn and Faramir and it sheds much light on to their deeper relationship.  
As soon as Eowyn awakes in the House of Healing she longs to be back on the battlefield saying “I cannot lie in sloth, idle, caged. I look for death in battle. But I have not died, but battle still goes on” (Tolkien, 1196). The healing that Eowyn needs is no longer physical, its emotional. Her desire for respect has driven her to bloodlust and suicide via war, her dismal outlook and ‘need’ for death in battle is a shroud of depression which hides her light from the world. When she meets Faramir he tries to draw her out into the sunshine of the gardens in the Healing House, but she initially rejects him. Over time she meets him outside and leans on him for support. Faramir is the key to her emotional healing: “ ‘Eowyn, Eowyn, White Lady of Rohan, in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure!' And he stooped and kissed her brow” (Tolkien, 1200) He injects light into her life and shows her that darkness is not the only option, he shows her that hope can still be found in war.  
Faramir helps Eowyn recover without pitying the state she is in. Often when Eowyn is talked about in the book she is being pitied by other men. It happens when she wants Aragorn to let her ride with him, it also occurs when the men leave for Helm’s Deep and she is left behind. The reason for this pity is confusing. It is noble task to put in charge; she is leading in the stead of the King, although it always Eowyn that is left behind not any other man. This pity from Aragorn may be him recognizing the inequality, but not being able to fix it. Eowyn being constantly subject to pity has made her cold and thus she immediately defends herself from Faramir’s ‘pity’ saying: “I desire no man's pity” (Tolkien, 1202). Faramir counters with “I do not offer you my pity. For you are a lady high and valiant and have yourself won renown that shall not be forgotten; and you are a lady beautiful, I deem, beyond even the words of the Elven-tongue to tell…Eowyn, do you not love me?” (Tolkien, 1202). He opens up to her and his love melts away her cold walls to reveal her inner light: “the heart of Eowyn changed, or else at last she understood it. And suddenly her winter passed, and the sun shone on her” (Tolkien, 1203). This new inner light is channeled into being a healer: “ ‘I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun,' she said; and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a Shieldmaiden no longer…nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a Healer and love all things that grow and are not barren’” (Tolkien, 1203) Becoming a healer allows Eowyn hold a respect position, but she is no longer a slave to the darkness in her heart. On the contrary, this undermines her goal of being recognized as a worthy warrior, and this change in character may speak back to the gender norms of the 1940s when Tolkien was writing the books.  
Another look at Eowyn and Faramir’s relationship under a literary microscope reveals that they are foils to one another. Foils are character who contrast to one another and in that contrast highlight the positives and flaws within each other. Both come from a noble birth, Eowyn from Rohan and Faramir from Gondor. The difference comes from how they earn respect. Eowyn represents earning respect through battle and a glorious death whereas Faramir achieves respect through diplomacy. Their love in the books brings balance to both of their personalities.  
Eowyn’s love for Faramir is much different than her ‘love’ for Aragorn early in the book and moreover her love for Aragorn in the movies is different than her ‘love’ for him in the book. In the book just after Aragorn tells her she cannot go with him to the Paths of the Dead because she has no reason to Eowyn replies “They go only because they would not be parted from thee --- because they love thee” (Tolkien, 977). Her love for Aragorn is not a romantic love, but the idealization of what he represents; respect, glory, honor and self-sacrifice. Faramir calls out her idealization when they are in the Houses of Healing: “You desired to have the love of the Lord Aragorn, because he was high and puissant, and you wished to have renown and glory and to be lifted far above the mean things that crawl on the earth. And as a great captain may to a young soldier, he seemed to you admirable…he gave you only understanding and pity” (Tolkien, 1202). In the film her love of Aragorn is a school girl crush, tries to impress him with soup and breaks down when he tells her his heart belongs to another and then she quickly latches on to Faramir. In general, the books portray Eowyn as a cold, stern, steadfast woman that doesn’t melt until her relationship with Faramir whereas as Film Eowyn is briefly stoic, before melting into a doe-eyed, lovesick girl just after meeting Aragorn.  
Eowyn’s different motivations affects her overall character arc. In the film, her character arc is much sharper, having her go from young girl with high aspirations for glory to a married woman in one scene. In the book, her character arc is much more round with a gradual change between her introduction and final scene. This variation in arc is due to her different motivations. In the Film Eowyn’s driving motivation is to oppose the gender standards put upon her, whereas Book Eowyn is driven by her want for respect as a worthy warrior.


End file.
